Attack Mountain

A New Beginning

Thu, 24 May 2012 21:02:42 -0400

Hello, friends of Attack Mountain - Joe here, I’ll be handling our final campaign update.

As you’re likely already aware if you’re reading this, we were unable to hit our funding goal by our deadline, which as of this writing is just minutes away.

We went into this knowing full well that there was a possibility, coverage avalanche or not, that we might not get funded. Our confidence and passion for our game was tempered by this; we’ve been careful to be realistic while dreaming big.

It’s hard to nail down, in a situation as complex as this one, what exactly prevented us from crossing the finish line with Time Star’s campaign. Whatever the reason potential investors had, we apologize that we were unable to alleviate whatever issue it was holding them back - that’s on us.

All that being said, we’re not interested in backtracking too far - we want to keep pushing forward and moving ahead! At this juncture, we are going to step back and reassess the project in preparation for an important decision we need to make internally.

We don’t want to give away too much until we’ve got more concrete details, but if there’s one sentence you read out of this update, let it be this one: Attack Mountain lives on. We’re not fading away into nothingness; we’re not slinking back into some dark cavern whilst licking some imaginary wounds, never to be heard from again. We’re going to keep moving, and we’re incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have presented this project to you.

When it comes down to it, and you strip away everything else in play at the moment, it’s the people here - all 570+ of you - that made this experience so amazing for the team here. Seeing your pledges come in, receiving all of your wonderful messages of support both on our comments page and in our inbox - that’s what made this campaign worth it for us.

We also want to thank a few people individually:

The unbelievable team over at Stoic Studio (The Banner Saga), for backing the project and providing us with many words of encouragement and advice
Wade Tinney and Large Animal Games for being so supportive of the NYC game industry - they’re a great group, and they’re currently in the midst of their own campaign, which you should support.
Ryan Payton, who was kind enough to offer words of encouragement that really energized the team when we needed it.
Our dear allies - Jake (‘virt’), Dudu, and Steve - all incredibly talented people whom we’re lucky to be friends with. I (we!) love you guys and look forward to working on this game and others in the future together. This campaign wouldn’t have happened without you.
The families and friends of Attack Mountain, who were very tolerant of us not being around for many months as we built up this campaign - and then were tolerant of us not being around even more when the campaign launched!

We encourage you to follow us on one or more of our various outlets:

Our main site, www.attackmountain.com, contains links to our tumblr, Facebook, and Twitter. We’ll be using it to broadcast our most major of updates as well.
Our tumblr is the place to be for project updates, concept art, developer diaries, and more. It’s our main hub for telling you about what’s new and what’s next.
Our Twitter’s also a great place for bite-size updates! Follow us and retweet as you see fit.

And, as I finish writing this sentence, the clock runs out. We’ll be in touch soon, and keep you all posted on what’s next for Attack Mountain. For now, though - we’re going to crack open a bottle of champagne, think back on this adventure with much fondness, and get some hard-earned rest.

From all of us here at Attack Mountain, thank you. We hope you’ll continue to follow us as we venture forth.

- Attack Mountain

59 hours to go!

Tue, 22 May 2012 08:46:00 -0400

59 hours to go!:

59 hours left in our campaign! If you haven’t backed Legend of the Time Star yet, now’s the time.

ATTACK MOUNTAIN DEVELOPER DIARY 5

Sat, 19 May 2012 20:37:35 -0400

GUEST DEVELOPER DIARY: ECHO BRIDGE ON ANIMATION

Today’s developer diary was written by Esteban Valdez, the founder and studio head at Echo Bridge Pictures. We’ll also be debuting another developer diary early next week, so stay tuned!

Whether it’s pixels or paper, 2D or 3D, there are principals of animation that apply to everything. They’re time tested and they never, never, fail us when we adhere to them. Sadly though, the philosophy behind it all seems to be thrown out the window or completely neglected with a lot of newer productions – especially with games of this manner.

We could, like most artists and studios, dive head first into pixel painting but we really wanted to bring out the best for Legend of the Time Star. That’s why, as Attack Mountain stated earlier, we’ve done everything by hand, frame-by-frame. Pixel painting isn’t much different from painting with traditional or digital mediums. You’re playing with shape, color, values and volumes all in an attempt to capture an idea. Couple that with animation where you are also playing with shape, volume, mass and weight, plus [!] 8-16 paintings to put together and you’ve got quite the workload to paint all at once.

The problem when diving right in to the pool is that you never really gauge how deep it is, or if there’s any water in it all. At Echo Bridge, we look, then leap. Or, as the old production method goes: “General to specific.”

So, in this instance, what we did was get a general look at what needs to be done and broke it down, allowing us to focus on each step and produce the best animation possible. And with characters as detailed as this, it was important that took small steps to really capture as much of the original designs as possible. By doing this, we were able to create very unique animation cycles for each character that really gives the overall world a lot of depth.

The fungal drudger’s walk, for example, required more frames to slow the it down, and the hands move on an independent time chart that really pops out from everything else. It gives its walk a much different feel and look from other creatures in the game.

Once everyone is happy with an animation, we bring it down to the pixel level. Because we’ve worked at a larger resolution, we have a very good understanding of the characters volume, mass, weight, etc., and that helps us make a well-constructed sprite. It may seem time consuming, but the results have been incredibly satisfactory so far.

Everyone seems to be in a hurry to find the latest shortcut, hotkey, or animate button all in an attempt to get a project out the door faster.

But, the longest distance between any two points is a shortcut.

-Esteban Valdez, Echo Bridge Pictures

Want this game to become a reality? We need the support of the gaming community to make Legend of the Time Star happen. Back to our Kickstarter today!

First prototype footage of Legend of the Time Star, showing off...

Mon, 14 May 2012 21:10:46 -0400

First prototype footage of Legend of the Time Star, showing off Hyder’s Wood and the Hero’s Quick attack, as well as some basic movement. We’d love to hear what you think!

Environment sketches drawn by Legend of the Time Star’s...

Sat, 12 May 2012 22:51:01 -0400

Environment sketches drawn by Legend of the Time Star’s Lead Artist, Dudu Torres

Like what you see? Support Legend of the Time Star today!

ATTACK MOUNTAIN DEVELOPER DIARY 4

Sat, 12 May 2012 21:33:00 -0400

DEVELOPER DIARY 4: THE WORLD OF LEGEND OF THE TIME STAR

The Fortress City of Foghold is the world’s crown jewel. Nestled between The Northern Range and the plentiful land of Ardvale Fields, Foghold is a major center of commerce and the arts, not to mention home of The High King and his legendary Royal Knights. Foghold’s denizens enjoy the highest quality of life out of all the world’s major cities, thanks to its strategic placement that provides an overabundance of resources. It is well-protected and nearly impenetrable thanks to its high walls and few points of entry. It casts an unmistakable profile against the the sky, both inspiring and imposing at once.

The World of Time Star

In Legend of the Time Star,you’ll explore a vast and exciting world teeming with life and adventure. Whether you’re deep in Bolgard Grotto searching for a lost treasure, or scaling the snowy peaks of the Northern Ridge on the tail of a dangerous creature threatening a nearby town, you’ll encounter a wide range of beautifully rendered environments full of mysteries for you to uncover. In today’s developer diary, we’ll reveal some of the locations in Legend of the Time Star for the first time, in addition to explaining the linear/free-roam aspects of the game. Excited? You should be! Read on!

Linear + Free Roam

Cross section of game progression / environment map

Legend of the Time Star has both linear and non-linear aspects, like many of its inspirations. The chart above helps break it down; the red line that runs vertically through Hyder’s Wood, the game’s first major town, and Fresh River Ridge denotes the story path. This is the general direction the narrative will guide the player in as they advance through the game’s main story arc.

Towns are the largest on the chart for a reason. They’re the player’s safe zones; here, the player can sleep/recover at the Tavern, modify their equipment at the Forge, buy items at shops, and get medical attention if they so require it. Players will also find a wide range of unique characters to interact with in each town, some of which trigger side-stories, which are smaller story arcs that provide additional content to those who wish to leave no stone unturned. In addition to providing the player with great rewards, side-stories also shed more light on the world of Time Star and those that reside in it. Each town provides side-stories tied to the areas around it; in the chart above, for example, the player will find side-stories tied to Bolgard Grotto, Hyder’s Wood, the Crash Site, and Fresh River Ridge. The game’s main dungeons – ones that the player must beat to advance the story – are usually tied to the nearest town, and located in one of the main areas it services.

Each offshoot in the chart above is a unique environment with its own enemies and additional side-stories separate from the ones provided in town, meaning the player doesn’t need to rely solely on towns to stumble upon things to do. Players don’t need a reason to go to a location, just the means to do so (whether that’s a unique ability or simply advancing the story). Once they’ve got access to a locaton, they can go there whenever they please - whether it’s to hunt a rare creature, discover an unexplored dungeon, or simply see what the area has to offer.

For this reason, Time Star is both linear and free-roam. The player doesn’t have to advance the story until they’re ready; if they want, they can spend hours clearing all of the side-content available to them at their juncture in the narrative before moving on. On the other hand, if a player’s simply interested in completing the main story of Time Star, that’s fine too. It all depends on your playstyle and what you want to get out of the game.

Bolgard Grotto is nestled deep within Hyder’s Wood, accessed via an abandoned mine that runs beneath the southeastern edge of the forest. While it houses many rare resources, its large, twisting caverns are also home to many dangerous creatures. The deeper one goes, the greater the risks – and rewards. It’s even said that a complex catacomb exists somewhere within its reaches.

Side Dungeons

In addition to main dungeons that are part of the game’s core narrative, there are also unexplored and unlisted dungeons for the user to uncover. These dungeons range wildly in size and goal; some dungeons might be a single room containing a fiery battle against hordes of enemies, while others might be a half-hour long dungeon crawl capped off with a unique boss and loot.

There are two ways to discover these side dungeons; one is to purchase Dungeon Maps from a vendor in town, which marks the dungeon’s location on your map. The other? To stumble upon the dungeon yourself.

No place on the planet is quite like the Doldrums. This damp, dangerous swampland stretches for countless miles in many directions; to go in without a map is considered suicide. This is likely the reason that humans without hope have been coming here for centuries to ‘give themselves’ to the swamp, allowing themselves to waste away within its confines. Those that do so rise as Fungal Drudgers; depressed, moaning beings controlled by a mysterious and woeful life force. These lifeless husks used to spend their days staring at the skies and wailing, keeping to themselves. They were considered harmless until the Crash filled them with a mindless rage that has turned them into vicious monsters.

How Big is the Game?

Time Star will contain roughly half a dozen towns along its main arc, with each one servicing a handful of surrounding locations in addition to one or more major dungeons. This works out to approximately 36 different unique environments to explore, full of exciting adventures to undertake!

Long abandoned, the Ruins of Gom reside in an arid canyon of the same name. Foghold’s archives describe Gom as an ancient warrior that once ruled the desert alongside his army of Claymen - humanoid creatures borne of special clay pits unique to the region. No one has seen a sign of the Claymen for centuries – however, if they exist, it’s said that they do so within the walls of these ruins. Rumor also has it that Gom’s amulet, the supposed source of his power over the Claymen, is buried here along with the warrior’s lost remains.

—

The End

That’s the end of today’s update – with each day we’re a step closer to revealing the gameplay video. This is not the last diary regarding the game world – we’ll be revealing more locations and information in upcoming diaries! Stay tuned.

-AM

Want this game to become a reality? We need the support of the gaming community to make Legend of the Time Star happen. Back to our Kickstarter today!

ATTACK MOUNTAIN DEVELOPER DIARY 3

Fri, 11 May 2012 19:39:00 -0400

DEVELOPER DIARY 3: ARMOR / THE FORGE PART II

Hi everyone! Today, we’re going to talk about something near and dear to the hearts of many RPG fans; armor. One of the staples in character progression in RPGs is equipment – not just the weapons you wield, but the armor and accessories you wear. We’ll be breaking this one down into three big pieces: acquiring and equipping armor, gem slots, and upgrading your armor at the Forge.

A high-level armor design, initially unveiled in the wallpaper. Click for bigger version

Making Armor feel Special Again

The user can access their Hero’s equipment via the in-game menu (brought up with the TAB key). This allows them to tweak it at any time using a familiar slot-based system. The diagram above displays the different armor and accessory slots the player will have open to them. Most are self-explanatory, but there are two things that may have stuck out – the Rune Bracelet slot, and that giant yellow box that reads ‘Armor’. We’ll be addressing the Rune Bracelet in its own update when we discuss magic in greater detail – WAY too much to put here!

In Legend of the Time Star,getting a new suit of armor is a major milestone. While there are a lot of different items and equipment for the player to acquire, we wanted armor acquisition to feel special, so we put extra weight behind its impact on your Hero. Not only does acquiring a new suit of armor change the character’s entire appearance, it also dramatically boosts their abilities in a few ways that we’ll explain below. Because of this, armor suits are not as densely distributed throughout the game as other equipment. We currently plan to put six different suits into the game, which when matched against the game’s expected length, means you’ll get a new suit of armor roughly every sixth of the way through the game.

So when do you actually get new armor? Well, that depends! Some are built into dungeons. Others are acquired as part of the story. Others, still, are optional, and you can beat the entire game without getting them!

Properties and Progress

Armor provides the following key attributes. These are the main variables that change from suit to suit.

Defense: Defense is the backbone of damage mitigation in Time Star. While other equipment types provide defense, none of them provide nearly as much as the armor slot (with the exception of Shields). The biggest difference users will notice when upgrading to a new suit of armor is that their damage reduction will be significantly better.
Gem Sockets: We’ll get into these further on in this update. Gem Sockets are one of the major ways to boost armor’s stats and imbue it with special properties. Higher level suits of armor have more initial Gem Sockets and have a higher Gem Socket cap.
Special Traits: Most suits of armor provide the user with a special trait that makes each suit even more unique. The potency of these can be boosted by intelligent Gem Socket use in addition to upgrading the armor’s stats at the Forge.

Building A Better Breastplate

Since there are fewer armor suits in the game, we had to think of different ways to make each suit last longer, in addition to ensuring there are enough options for customization and stat tweaking to keep players feeling like they’re constantly improving and advancing their character in a meaningful way. Since Armor functions differently from Weapons, we had to also think of how make armor customization function differently within the Forge.

One of the things we added into armor suits is the aforementioned Gem Sockets. The amount of gem sockets a suit of armor starts out with depends on the tier of armor it is; the later on in the game the user acquires the armor, the more gem sockets it’ll likely start out with.

So, what do they do? Simple: the gems that the user finds from treasure chests and loot drops – the very same ones mentioned in our first look into the Forge – can be plugged into an armor suit’s gem socket at the Forge, to give it different properties!

Each and every gem in the game provides a different type of improvement when used in this manner – when combined with the fact that many of the armors have multiple gem slots, the combinations are endless and you’ll be able to finetune and bolster your armor to match any situation you may encounter.

You won’t know what a gem does until you see it at the Forge, either – there, it’ll show up in the available gems list alongside its bonuses.

Let’s use an example scenario. Let’s say that you’re about to venture deep in the The Doldrums – a dangerous swampland that is the birthplace of the game’s menacing Fungal Drudgers. The Doldrums contain a lot of creatures and environmental hazards that inflict Poison, a status effect that gradually reduces your HP until you’ve either cured it with an antidote or have seen a doctor in town.

Before departing, you head to the Forge. Your current armor has two gem sockets, which currently house attack power-boosting Tiger Gems. Since you still want your attacks to pack a bit of an extra punch, but you also want some poison resistance, you swap out one of the Tiger Gems for a Viper Gem, which improves your poison resistance by 30%. With that done, you’re going to fare much, much better in your journey through the Doldrums.

That’s not the only way you can upgrade your Armor at the Forge, however – there’s a second way! Just like weapons, you can upgrade your suit of armor to higher levels! This utilizes the same system – collect a set of specific items and then bring them to the Forge, pay a small fee, and make the upgrade – but the improvements are very different and, in some ways, longer lasting.

There are five upgrade tiers per suit of armor. In addition to increasing its defense dramatically with each tier, most armor suits will receive additional gem slots as they’re improved, which dramatically increases their value and longevity as a useful piece of equipment. A suit of armor at level 1 might have one gem socket and decent defense, but upgrade it to level 5 and it may then have three gem sockets and as much defense as a much higher-level piece of armor. This means that players can still rely on a favorite armor suit they acquired earlier in the game, even if they get something new that is better in different ways.

This system provides a great degree of flexibility to how the player outfits their Hero. Most armor sets can be made into whatever you can think of – if you want a high-defense armor that makes you immune to fire damage, or an armor that dramatically strengthens your magic damage while at the same time giving you mana regen, you’ll be able to make it happen!

Ultimate Armor

Is there one in this game? Suffice it to say that yes, there’s an ‘Ultimate’ suit of armor in the game and yes, you’re going to have to work for it. When you get it, though…you will remember what it was like to bust your tail for an item in an RPG and then wonder how you ever lived without it.

The End

That’s the end of today’s Developer Diary! A bit on the shorter side, because we’re still working hard on getting the prototype ready for public viewing – also, there’s another developer diary coming tomorrow about exploring the world of Legend of the Time Star. It should give you guys a better perspective on how you’ll be getting from place to place, as well as the overall scope of the game. Stay tuned!

-AM

Want to make this game a reality? We need your help! We’ve got 13 days left and need to spread the word to keep the pledges coming in. Check our our Kickstarter page here!

A fireside chat with Attack Mountain

Wed, 09 May 2012 23:10:07 -0400

A fireside chat with Attack Mountain:

Time Star’s director Joe Laurino marks the halfway point of our Kickstarter campaign with a fireside chat titled ‘The What-If Talk’.

Today, we revealed the exclusive wallpaper backers will receive...

Mon, 07 May 2012 22:32:00 -0400

Today, we revealed the exclusive wallpaper backers will receive for backing Legend of the Time Star! Want it? You’ll be able to get it right after our Kickstarter campaign (successfully) ends - but only if you pledge $5 or more to our Kickstarter today!

All sprite art done for Legend of the Time Star starts out with...

Mon, 07 May 2012 22:25:00 -0400

All sprite art done for Legend of the Time Star starts out with hand-drawn pencils that are then distilled down into pixel form. Here’s a sneak peek of Hero’s walk cycle courtesy of Echo Bridge!

ATTACK MOUNTAIN DEVELOPER DIARY

Sat, 05 May 2012 20:06:00 -0400

DEVELOPER DIARY 2 - BASIC COMBAT AND CONTROLS

Great art, great music, excellent animation – none of it means anything if the game isn’t fun to play. In today’s Developer Diary, we’re going to drill down a bit on combat, and explain the basic mechanics and how they’re is incorporated into the game. We’ll also talk a bit about general controls, too. Ready? This one’s pretty long and has a lot of info in it, so you might want to go grab a coffee or a cup of tea before you start reading. Enjoy!

What is an Action RPG?

How does Wikipedia define an Action RPG?

“Action role-playing games (abbreviated action RPG, action/RPG, or ARPG) form a loosely defined sub-genre of role-playing video games that incorporate elements of action or action-adventure games, emphasizing real-time action where the player has direct control over characters, instead of turn-based or menu-based combat. These games often use combat systems similar to hack and slash or shooter games.”

That sounds about right, doesn’t it? Unlike a game such as, say, Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, everything related to combat in an ARPG happens in real time. Each button press equals an action, and each action has an immediate consequence. For pacing, the difference between a turn-based RPG and an action-RPG is tremendous. You can’t put your controller down and lament for ten minutes about what spell to cast on a boss in an action RPG. If you’re swarmed by ten enemies, they’re not going to wait for you to figure out what to do; they’re just going to jump on you.

Every game is essentially a huge group of spreadsheets put together that dictate its rules – the difference with RPGs is that a lot of those spreadsheets are more transparent, closer to the surface, and players have a much bigger hand in tweaking the numbers in those spreadsheets to provide themselves with the best advantage they can muster. This is the common thread that runs through all RPGs, action or otherwise.

Through and through, Legend of the Time Star is an action RPG. Today we’ll shed some light on how the ‘action’ part of that comes into play.

The Feel and Inspiration

Let’s talk a bit about some games and studios that, collectively, have been a big part in defining the gameplay for LoTS.

The AM team grew up playing all sorts of games, but for Time Star we have focused a lot on bringing back that satisfying, but nuanced feel that many of Capcom’s games of the 90’s so easily captured. One great example, despite the fact that it’s a beat-em-up as opposed to a platformer, is their acclaimed Dungeons and Dragons series. Take a look at the Fighter class in that game – every sword strike felt immediate, yet at the same time they had a ‘weight’ to them. You felt each hit, and it was for a few major reasons;

Responsiveness - Our mantra for gameplay in general is to provide a 1-to-1 ratio for user input/result. What we mean by this is that when you press a button, you get immediate feedback. It’s really important in games where every second counts that the user doesn’t fight with the controls; they need to be able to pull off any maneuver that they cook up in their mind without having to worry if the game’s going to be able to understand or keep up with them. If there’s even a half a second’s worth of lag between a button press and its resulting action, the entire experience suffers.
The Details – When you hit an opponent in DnD, you feel like you did some damage. This is because of the way the entire package comes together – the collision detection is excellent, and the moment your blade hits your target, you’re rewarded with a variety of different feedback types – the crunchy sound of steel hitting flesh, the split-second pause at the moment of impact, the brief flash of the target sprite. It gave you a moment, no matter how small, to absorb and register the events currently occurring in the game. If it’s a really heavy hit, all this would happen in addition to a screen shake, and after that moment of absorption your opponent would be sent reeling, tumbling a few feet away.

This game was also unique in the fact that it had moves tied to special commands. For example, players could do a powerful upward strike by using the command down->up->attack, or a what was called a ‘sliding strike’ by rolling the joystick from down to front before hitting attack.

Here’s a video of the Fighter from Dungeon and Dragons: Shadow over Mystara in action. (Feels good just watching it, doesn’t it?)

Their Dungeons and Dragons series obviously isn’t the only one that captured this feel – a lot of their games did. Street Fighter, Final Fight, Magic Sword, Knights of the Round, King of Dragons, even The Punisher - the list goes on for a long time. We want Time Star’s combat to be technical and nuanced while at the same time be satisfying and flashy, with players able to pick it up and immediately feel as though they know how play it.

Square’s Secret of Mana series also had a large impact on how we structured the game’s combat. Where Capcom nailed the feel, Square excelled at bubbling that ‘spreadsheet’ aspect to the surface. Numbers fly each time a strike is made, and it’s hard to argue that anything’s more satisfying than seeing a huge number fly off of an opponent after nailing a particularly juicy critical hit or spellcast. When combined with other heavy RPG elements like stats (HP, MP, Strength, Constitution, etc) and an expertly balanced equipment system that heavily impacted how your character fared in battle, it’s easy to see why Square was at the forefront of the action RPG movement in the early 90’s.

As an aside, we have a special place in our hearts for Legend of Mana. We know that it’s not from the same era as these other games, but it’s one of the last games we all played that gave us that nostalgic feeling we want to bring back with Time Star.

Finally, the Castlevania series had a big impact on us, namely after it made the leap from point-a to point-b sidescroller to ‘Metroidvania’. As an all-around package, games like Symphony of the Night, Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance, and those that followed had very satisfying progression in terms of your moveset expanding as you advanced through the game. It’s also the only game out of all the ones we’ve mentioned so far that is a true platformer, just like Time Star. Just like LoTS, you’re locked onto a 2D plane in these games, and that has serious impacts on the way the game’s laid out. If you can’t reach a ledge that leads to another area, for example, you can’t go there until you satisfy some requirement in the game world, whether that’s defeating a certain boss or acquiring a certain piece of equipment. Like many other ARPGs (which at the end of the day, the ‘Metroidvania’ games are), you also are treated to damage numbers whenever you deal damage or damage is dealt to you.

Furthermore, Castlevania games did a great job making your weapon decision feel meaningful; you could opt to fight with quick jabs by using a very fast short-sword, or sacrifice speed for raw power by brandishing a great axe with a wide, arcing swing. Not only did it allow you to match whatever playstyle you felt like using at the time, it also allowed you to make on-the-fly decisions based on the enemies you were facing. We’re looking to do this same thing with Time Star’s Forge System by allowing players to decide whether to use one-handed or two-handed swords and customize them based on their needs.

Many other series have impacted the game in certain ways, but when it comes to combat, these are the major ones. We’ll be getting more into these inspiration breakdowns in future Dev Diaries. The takeaway here is that we’re after responsive, varied, pulse-pounding combat that is impacted by your play style, as well as the decisions you make while customizing your character.

So What’s it Like for Time Star?

A (messy) page from the director’s sketchbook, outlining some of the game’s moves and techniques.

Combat in Time Star occurs within the game world, in real-time – there are no cutaways or ‘switching to battle mode’. This means that if you’re outside of a town, you should stay on your feet – anything can happen when you’re in the wild. For the most part, enemies will be spawned as soon as you enter an area, and will respawn each time you return to said area; but there are also chance encounters that will leave you ambushed. You could pass by some bushes, for example, only to have a horde of monsters leap out in an attempt to take you down using the element of surprise.

In case you’re wondering, yes, you see damage dealt on-screen with each strike. If this isn’t your thing, we’ll be making it optional, with the ability to toggle it on/off via the settings screen.

There are two control styles currently, but the main one is keyboard only with the mouse used for UI navigation. We are currently establishing a mode that we’re calling ‘Modern’ mode, which utilizes WASD movement and relies heavily on the mouse for combat. (Terraria did something like this.) However, it requires a lot of deep-dive from a design perspective to determine its viability for Time Star, so we’re going to talk about the keyboard only for the sake of this Dev Diary. We’ve selected a cross-section of controls taken from the game’s Design Doc to show you here. We’d like to stress that this isn’t every move in the game, just some of them, and that we’ve truncated each technique’s description for the doc heavily for readability.

We’ll start off with the basic controls so that you have a frame of reference for the combat moves listed.

(All commands assume player is facing right).

Core Movement

Walk (← →): L + R Arrow keys

Allows the player to walk. Players can only walk left or right.

Jump: Space Bar

Allows the player to jump.

Crouch: Down Arrow key

Allows the player to crouch. If the player is in tall grass when crouching, beasts are 50% less likely to notice them. Players may move when crouching, though their movement speed is reduced by 45%. The user will remain in a crouching position as long as the crouch key is being pressed.

Advanced Movement

Sprint: Double tap and hold → while standing or walking

Allows the player to run at 150% normal speed. This effect is ended when the player collides with any obstacle, such as a wall, door, or enemy, or the player lets go of the arrow key.

Roll: Double tap → while crouching

Causes the player to dive and do a singular roll in the direction tapped before returning to a crouching position. This is useful in combat because it ignores collisions for most smaller opponents, allowing the player to get behind them. It’s also useful – and sometimes necessary – for getting through smaller spaces.

Interaction

Action Button: A or Shift

The action button is the catch-all button used throughout the game. This button’s context changes based on the player’s immediate vicinity. By default, the action button is used to attack, but this is superceded by other available actions. For example, if the player is standing in front of a switch, pressing the action button would cause the player to throw the switch instead of attacking.

Another page of move concepts from the director’s sketchbook. Note the fifth-grader style font that’s completely intentional.

Combat Techniques, Offense

Technique: Quick Attack

Command: Tap Action Button

The standard and staple technique that causes the player to strike swiftly with their weapon.

The Quick Attack, in addition to being a staple move in the player’s arsenal, also shoots a crescent-shaped projectile out over a very short distance in front of the player. The projectile is destroyed upon first contact with an enemy or obstacle, or when it reaches the end of its lifespan. When an opponent is struck by both the projectile and the direct strike, damage received is determined by whichever roll was higher. For example, if an opponent were to take 15 damage from the projectile and 25 from the direct strike, they would simply take 25 damage.

Technique: Fierce Attack

Command: Press/hold Action button

A strong attack that deals more damage at the cost of a longer wind-up.

The Fierce Attack’s wind-up leaves the player vulnerable, so it should only be used when the player has an opening. Unlike the Quick Attack, Fierce Attack does not shoot projectiles. If an opponent is struck with this attack, they will suffer knockback. More heavily armored creatures may only be staggered, and the heartiest of monsters may suffer no ill effects at all.

Technique: Jump Attack

Command: Press Action button while jumping

While in the air, the player will draw their weapon and rapidly spin with it in hand, creating a whirlwind of weaponry that damages everything within its radius. The player will spin until they land once the jump attack is initiated.

The Jump attack is an invaluable attack with a variety useful applications, due to the fact that the attack can be initiated from at any moment after the player has left the ground. It can be used to damage and escape opponents when surrounded when activated the moment after jumping, strike an airborne opponent when the player is in the air, or get the drop on an enemy or group by activating it right before landing near them.

The another page from the design sketchbook – you can kind of see some interesting stuff from the other side of it, wonder what those are about…

Combat Techniques, Defense

Technique: Block

Command: Automatic

The player blocks a physical or projectile attack with their shield, taking only a fraction of the damage. If the player is not using a shield, they will parry instead and will take a larger fraction of the damage.

Block is based on a few variables: the first is the user’s block chance. The higher the user’s block chance, the higher likelihood the player will block the attack. Block chance can be increased via certain item types or skill tree . The second is the player’s action at the time of the strike. If the player is attacking, their block chance is reduced by 90%. If they are casting, block chance is reduced by 75%. If they are moving, the chance is reduced by 50%. If the player is standing and not performing an attack or casting, their block chance is normal.

Technique: Deflect

Command: Action Button (timed)

The player swats a projectile aside, taking no damage from it.

To deflect a physical projectile, such as an arrow or rock, it must first be tagged as an applicable projectile. If it is, it will flash white moments before impact. If the player presses the action button while the projectile is flashing white, it will be deflected once it reaches them. The player must press the action button once for each projectile: if multiple projectiles are incoming, the player will need to hit the action button once for each one to queue up the deflections. There is no theoretical cap on how many projectiles can be deflected at once, but it assumed that eventually enough projectiles would overwhelm the player and cause them to take at least some of the damage. This technique is useful for damage mitigation when under heavy fire and can mean the difference between life and death if used properly.

Technique: Counterattack

Command: Action Button (timed)

The player retaliates after an opponent’s unsuccessful attack with a Fierce Attack. This attack is a guaranteed critical strike with knockback and stagger (on regular opponents only).

When the player successfully blocks an opponent’s attack, the player will flash white momentarily. If the player hits the action button during this time, the opponent will be staggered and the player will immediately and swiftly strike them with a guaranteed critical Fierce Attack. The player remains invincible for the duration of the swing, becoming vulnerable again as soon as the animation is over.

Counterattacks are unlocked through gameplay and are useful when going up against a tough opponent one on one, especially if the player has skewed their skill point spending in defensive trees that improve block chance. It’s also useful when being attacked by multiple weaker enemies, as a counterattack does significant physical damage that can cripple foes.

—

That’s it for today’s developer diary update! Stay tuned for our next one, coming next week – trust us when we say you’re going to love it.

Oh, last thing before we go - you’re likely wondering about magic. Well, we felt that magic deserved its own update, so you’ll see a dev diary on it in upcoming weeks.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone, and if you like what you read, reblog it! As always, be sure to check out our Kickstarter and donate if you like what you’re reading here! We need your help to make Legend of the Time Star a reality.

-AM

Legend of the Time Star on RPGFan

Sat, 05 May 2012 01:56:00 -0400

Legend of the Time Star on RPGFan:

“If that’s not enough, among the cast of characters is a race of kiwi birds named The Kiwar. Kiwis! Why has this not been done before?”

Legend of the Time Star on Joystiq

Sat, 05 May 2012 01:54:00 -0400

Legend of the Time Star on Joystiq:

“Legend of the Time Star has all the potential to be a brand new nostalgia bomb whose inherent paradox rips a hole in the thinly woven fabric of space and time itself, but only if we allow it to.”

Legend of the Time Star on Kotaku

Sat, 05 May 2012 01:53:00 -0400

Legend of the Time Star on Kotaku:

“[Lead Artist Dudu Torres has] certainly outdone himself here, with character art that, while bearing touches of modernity to it, also looks like it could have fallen straight out of 1993.”

CHARACTER REVEAL : ATONE

Wed, 02 May 2012 23:04:34 -0400

CHARACTER REVEAL: ATONE

Hello, friends of Attack Mountain! We’re pleased to reveal a character from Legend of the Time Star today: the stoic and proud leader of the Royal Guard, Atone.

Atone is a fierce warrior of strong convictions who becomes one of the Hero’s strongest allies as the world around them falls apart. He wasn’t always known as Atone, however.

Early Life + The Chance Encounter

Hailing from a small seaside town, Atone grew up different from his friends - while they played and enjoyed their young lives, he often opted to spend his days absorbing the knowledge of his elders, particularly the rough-edged hunters that kept the community alive. It was knowledge that the others - with their abundant energy and all the impatience it brings - had no desire to learn.

It was this knowledge that shaped him more than anything. The realization that the world was alive, a living breathing thing, shook him to his core. One day as he lie in a field of grass - his favorite place to think - he vowed to spend his life protecting all that lived and breathed as he did.

It tortured him as his innocence slipped away, as innocence often does with age. After joining the town guard, Atone realized that in order to protect some lives, he’d have to end others. It was a thought he could not reconcile, and for a long while he was ridiculed for his inability to land a killing blow. That would all change late one night.

In the dark of twilight on the way home from his thinking place, he found himself ambushed by a passing pack of marauders. While he was able to dispatch them despite being outnumbered, one of his assailants rose as he was walking off and slid a knife between his ribs. He knew at that moment that it was either him, or the marauder.

It would mark the first life he ever took.

With one death came others. It threatened to drive him mad, cutting down other living creatures, and one day he simply vanished. He took nothing from his home. He told no one. He was simply gone.

It wasn’t until many years later that he resurfaced, having taken up the name ‘Atone’. A chance encounter had put him in the company of a high-ranking politician in the fortress city of Foghold - the largest and most populous city in all the land. Unrest in the land following ‘The Crash’ that had occurred earlier that year was being dismissed by the inebriated politician; it angered a few patrons to the point that it came to blows. Atone stepped in and very likely saved the man’s life with seemingly little effort. Impressed with his prowess in combat and his ability to dispatch the attackers without doing mortal damage to a single one, the politician revealed his connection to the High King of Foghold and his position in the Royal Court as its military adviser.

Atone was skeptical at first given the man’s demeanor and attitude - hardly royal - but it proved to be valid, as a few days later (after heavy vetting) he found himself welcomed with open arms into the legendary Royal Guard.

Atone and The Royal Guard

The Royal Guard was founded by High King Movgan a century earlier and is widely considered to be the most elite group of knights in the world. To be among them was a dream to Atone - they had order, a code. They were fierce, powerful, but just. Best of all, they didn’t kill unless it was absolutely necessary to their mission, and even then they were respectful of their kills, paying each of them a moment of silence regardless of their alignment in life. He found that he resonated deeply with their values. In return, his comrades resonated deeply with him. It was only a few years into his time with The Royal Guard that Atone found himself kneeling down in front of the High King himself, being formally knighted and crowned as the successor that would take the reigns of the Guard when its current leader stepped down - or in this case, was cut down.

As the current leader of the Royal Guard, Atone serves his people with a single goal in mind. Their safety, and the safety of their leaders is his utmost concern. Even if it means sacrificing everything - which, with each passing day, seems more and more likely - Atone will do so, if it means his people will continue to live.

Have questions about Atone? Ask us!

ATTACK MOUNTAIN DEVELOPER DIARY

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 16:58:00 -0400

ENTRY 1: THE FORGE SYSTEM / HILT AND BLADE

Welcome to the very first Developer Diary entry for Legend of the Time Star! Today, Time Star’s director will take you through the game’s Forge System and give you more insight on how to upgrade and customize your weapons.

“Again I entered my smithy to work and forge something from the noble material of time past.” -Jean Froissart

Your hero will have quite a lot on his shoulders in Legend of the Time Star; there will be no shortage of evil to eradicate or dungeons to scour. It’s good to know you’ve got The Forge System at your back - temper your steel effectively, and you’ll be ready for anything.

Click for high-res

What is the Forge System?

The blacksmith’s Shoppe in each major town in the game contains a Forge, a place where the player can tailor their armor and weapons to meet their current needs. At a Forge, the player can do a wide range of things, from forging (and reforging) their weapons to upgrading them with items they’ve found while adventuring.

Weapon Forging/Reforging

Each sword that the player can acquire is split into two pieces, the ‘hilt’ and the ‘blade’. Both pieces control different aspects of the user’s standard attacks:

Hilt controls attack speed, stat bonuses (defensive), and weapon type (1-hand or 2-hand)
Blade controls damage, stat bonuses (offensive), and status effects (such as poison, life absorption, and magic damage types)

A cleaned up page from the director’s sketchbook for the original concept of the Forge System – horrible handwriting and all

Break it Up (or don’t)

Unlike other games where you get a weapon and that’s it – you maybe get to upgrade it a couple of times or something – you don’t have to keep a weapon’s blade and hilt together in Time Star. You can use the Forge to take the blade of one sword and attach it to the hilt of another! If you’ve got a one-hander that has an awesome blade, but you don’t want to wield a one-handed weapon, you can combine it with a two-handed hilt. If you’ve got a massive blade you want to wield in one hand, you can attach the blade to a one-handed hilt and wield it alongside a shield. This allows players to be creative and cater their weapon needs to their current adventure.

The only thing limiting your weapon forging abilities is your coin purse. There’s a small fee each time you forge or reforge a weapon, but other than that, you’re free to customize your weapon as you see fit! There’s no limit to the amount of times you can use the Forge.

Weigh your Options

You won’t always want to split up a sword’s pieces – a lot of weapons will offer some sort of ‘set bonus’ for using their hilt and blade together at the same time. It’s up to you to weigh the weapon’s unique set bonuses against the stats of the weapon forged by you.

Rare Arms

You’ll most often receive a sword as a complete weapon, whether it’s from a drop, a chest, or a quest reward. Others, such as the game’s more rare and unique weapons, may be split up, waiting for you to discover and unite both pieces into a fearsome weapon that will send your opponents running for the hills.

Rare and unique weapons will almost always have a set bonus, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use them separately! In fact, one of the great things about the Forge System is that it allows you to use parts of weapons without having to have the entire weapon in your possession. That means that if you acquire the blade of a rare sword, you can start using it right away, even if you don’t have the hilt.

Upgrading Items

Perhaps there’s a sword you’ve put together that you really like, but you’re starting to notice it doesn’t pack the same punch if did a few levels ago. Or maybe suddenly your armor isn’t giving you as much protection against some heavy-hitting opponents. What can you do?

Upgrade them, of course! Using items that drop off of enemies or purchased in shops, you can upgrade and improve your weapons and armor to boost their stats and add special properties!

Let’s use an Iron Sword for an example scenario. Perhaps the Iron Sword’s stats break down like this:

Iron Sword

Iron Blade: 20-29 damage per strike, 1.2 attack speed
Iron Hilt: 1-handed; +2 Defense, successful counterattacks do 2% more damage

The Iron Sword was great at level 4, but now that you’re level 9 it’s taking a lot more to chop down your foes. After a fearsome battle with some Iron Skeletons in a dungeon, you obtain 4 iron chunks and a scrap of leather. After returning to town to stock up on items, you head to the Forge to give your Iron Sword a much needed shot in the arm.

To review what you need in order to upgrade, you simply go to the Upgrade Weapon option at the Forge and select the Iron Sword. You’ll get a detailed chart that defines what you’ll need for each upgrade level! Here’s what it looks like for the first level of upgrades:

Iron Blade +1

Requires: 2 Iron Chunks, 30 coin
Upgrades: 20-29 damage per strike -> 32-41 damage per strike; 1.2 attack speed -> 1.0 attack speed

Iron Hilt +1

Requires: 1 Iron Chunk, 1 Leather Scrap, 30 coin
Upgrades: +2 Defense -> +5 Defense; Successful counterattacks do 2% -> 4% more damage

You don’t have to upgrade both at the same time – you can upgrade just the blade, or just the hilt. If a player wanted to use their crafting materials to upgrade the blade of one sword and the hilt of another, that’s up to them.

As the player increases the level of a weapon’s blade and hilt, the requirements will increase as well. In most cases, the amount of resources the player will need to upgrade an item will double with each level, but this isn’t a be-all, end-all rule.

Armor functions in a similar matter, but has some nuances that we’ll be going into in a future Developer Diary.

Thanks for reading!

This is only the first of many developer diaries that we’ll be doing – we hope that these will get you as excited about the game as we are!

Remember, if you want to support Time Star, you can do so here – we’re 26 days away from the end of our Kickstarter and we have a long ways to go, so spread the word to everyone you know who is looking for that next great retro Action RPG – and, of course, be sure to support the Kickstarter yourself!

Day One: 2% Funded

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:24:00 -0400

2% in 24 hours. We’re truly humbled. Thank you for all of your support so far! Let’s make this game happen!

Our Kickstarter

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:17:00 -0400

Our Kickstarter

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:15:00 -0400

Our Kickstarter

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:14:00 -0400

Our Kickstarter